What Bourne meant was that "in wartime government would grow into an overweening tyrant, revealing its true and essential nature as an engine of pure coercion," Raimondo added.

Antiwar.com has tried to carry forth the legacy of concern for liberty and opposition to war and state coercion for 18 years. Every day we’ve worked to debunk the War Party’s lies and bring some truth into the debate about U.S. foreign policy.

We’ve reached a critical point in our fund drive this quarter. Contributions have slowed and we’re in danger of not meeting our goal. We need your help if our message of peace is to continue on into the future.

"As far as weknow, the FBI ‘investigation’ into Antiwar.com began in April of 2004. In a parody of what the general mentality was at that time, the FBI memo instructing regional offices to probe Antiwar.com raises the possibility that we are a ‘threat to National Security’ and quite possibly ‘agents of a foreign power.’ What is foreign here is the paranoia and Bizarro World craziness of this rationale for spying – foreign to America, that is, until September 11, 2001, when it became all too routine.

…"The FBI memo goes on to state:

‘There are several unanswered questions regarding www.antiwar.com. It describes itself as a nonprofit group that survives on generous contributions from its readers. Who are these contributors and what are the funds utilized for?’

"Funds raised by Antiwar.com go to pay the expenses of running a news organization – salaries, web design, cyber-protection, etcetera – just as funds raised by Fox News, the New York Times, and Good Housekeeping go to pay the expenses incurred by those media outlets. There is no mystery here."

We need your help in our fight for the protection of dissident speech. The survival of Antiwar.com is threatened both by the FBI and by our exceedingly tight budget. Please make a tax-deductible donation nowso that we can continue to debunk the war propaganda and provide the best antiwar news and commentary to tens of thousands of readers every day.

Read more about the details of the lawsuit against the FBI and the ACLU’s involvement in this column by Kelley Vlahos. Also, listen to blogger Marcy Wheeler talk to Scott Horton about the Antiwar.com/ACLU lawsuit against the FBI.

UN General Assembly Backs Regime Change in Syria: The UN General Assembly has passed a non-binding resolution calling for the ouster of Syrian President Bashar Assad and backing the rebellion against him. The vote was opposed by Russia as well as a number of nations expressing concern about foreign intervention in Syria’s ongoing civil war.

Pakistan High Court: US Drone Strikes Illegal: Pakistani High Court Chief Justice Dost Muhammad Khan has issued a ruling today declaring the ongoing US drone strikes against the tribal areas illegal under international law, adding that they amount to a “war crime” when they kill innocents.

Hagel: US Considering Arming Syria Rebels: Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel became the first US official to admit that the administration is "rethinking" its previous decision not to arm Syria’s rebels directly, though he insisted that no decision had been made and this was just one option being considered.